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Superman: The Man of Steel (2018)
| Creators = Brian Michael Bendis; Ivan Reis; Jason Fabok; Evan Shaner; Steve Rude; Ryan Sook; Kevin Maguire; Adam Hughes; Joe Prado; Wade Von Grawbadger; Alex Sinclair; Cory Petit; Josh Reed; Brian Cunningham; Mike Cotton; Jessica Chen | First = The Man of Steel Vol 2 1 | Last = The Man of Steel Vol 2 6 | Quotation = | Speaker = | QuoteSource = | HistoryText = Many decades ago, Rogol Zaar (Prime Earth) pleads with The Circle to destroy the Kryptonian race. Kryptonians have already reached out of their solar system, and albeit they claim to be interested solely in trading and commerce, Zaar is sure sooner or later Krypton will start plundering other worlds. They must be purgued before it is too late. Present day. Metropolis. After capturing Killer Moth and Firefly, Superman, Superman is tracking down a scream. A building is burning, a frequent occurrence of late. Superman quickly evacuates the building and super-breathes the fire off. The emergency is over, but he has a bad feeling about this fire. Superman flies into the building and gets to scan walls and ceiling as his thoughts wander towards his son. A firewoman approaches him, confirming Superman's suspicions. A serial arsonist is on the loose. She introduces herself as new Deputy Fire Chief Melody Moore, and is investigating the case. Superman tells her if she finds something, she can call Clark Kent or Lois-- just Kent. Superman then flies away. Appa Ali Apsa, a member of The Circle, meets Rogol Zaar to tell him his appeal has been considered... and denied. He assures the Circle isn't ignoring him or dismissing his sacrifices, but they think his judgement is clouded by his personal history, and Krypton hasn't acted aggressively towards anybody so far. Appa states Krypton will be left alone and fades away. Clark Kent is working on his arsonist story, although Perry White finds it underwhelming. Once again, Clark's thoughts wander towards his wife and son. He flashes back to that time when they were having a family moment and a strange white light filled their home's kitchen all of sudden. Two members of The Circle meet right after the destruction of Krypton. Appa Ali Apsa says it just happened, and Lord Gandelo argues planets don't "just" blow up. Apsa reiterates he had no part in that tragey and argues that if Gandelo's theory is true, and Rogol Zaar ignored the Circle and destroyed Krypton, who knows what he'll do to them and their worlds if they look into the matter further. They should hope he killed himself with Krypton. But right now, he and Gandelo are guilty of being unable to foresee that disaster. In the Daily Planet, gossip columnist Trish Q feels there's some juicy tale behind Lois Lane's absence, but nobody will tell anything, Perry is annoyed and Clark Kent can't be found in anywhere. In Coast City, Superman is dismantling a giant robot built by Toyman. Green Lantern comes along to greet Superman. Hal Jordan remarks his friend looks distant lately and he failed to show up for the last League's meeting. Superman assures everything's okay but he's to leave right now. Superman abruptly heads off as Hal stares at him, worried. Superman flies away, as recalling he and his family standing in the kitchen when a giant, armored figure teleported in. He streaks towards the Moon, makes a new crater and falls on his knees. Meanwhile, on an alien bar located at the far end of the Vega system, a patron notices a Kryptonian symbol engraved on a trinket resting on the counter. The bartender says it's a reminder of the last time Superman, the Last Son of Krypton, dropped by. Rogol Zaar's glaring face is reflected off the pendant. Superman is heading back to Metropolis, feeling guilty for blowing Hal Jordan's off. He notices a new fire and immediately sets out to evacuate homeless people living there. Someone is burning down his city right in front of him. Superman changes clothes and heads back to the Planet. Sadly, Perry isn't thrilled with his Toyman story. It's already everywhere online. Perry is depressed. Competition is tougher than ever since he started out, and some unknown party's apparently bought the Daily Planet out. Trish barges in Perry's office during their conversation to state whatever happened between Kent and Lois is the real exclusive. As Perry and Trish argue, Clark sees a newscaster reporting the Joker's newest rampage and heads off to stop it. Rogol Zaar rides his way to Earth and crash-lands into the Arctic Circle, in the vicinity of the Fortress of Solitude. He storms into the place, makes short work of Kelex and then spots the Bottle City of Kandor. Meanwhile on Metropolis, another building has burned down. Melody Moore is investigating the scorched place when she's greeted by Superman. The Man of Steel explains he's very concerned about the rash of fires so he's asked Batman to look into the case. Superman is barely through the introductions when his super-hearing hears his Fortress' alarm and he bolts out of the building. Superman flies his way to his Fortress as fast as possible and finds the place has been demolished and burned down. He looks around, taking in the destruction of Krypton's legacy and his horror grows when he sees Kandor. Supergirl right then flies into the place, alerted by Kelex's alarm, and asks who destroyed the Fortress. Her cousin's first instinct is to protect her by lying, but he collapses on his knees, bursts into tears and tells her to look to Kandor. Kara sees the Bottle City smashed down and bloodied and bursts into tears, too. Both cousins head off to look for a trail. As they search their surroundings via telescopic vision, Kal-El thinks about the last time he saw his family when an insectoid ship vessel teleported in their kitchen. Kara asks who knows about his Fortress and is powerful enough to destroy it. She also asks whether Lois and Jon are fine. Superman tells her to head to National City, ensure her family and friends are safe and meet him back on Metropolis. Following the trespasser's trail, Superman flies back to Metropolis. Guessing the intruder knows his secret identity, Superman flies over the city, checking everybody is fine. Suddenly he's blasted down over and again, and realizes his enemy wants a big, public fight. After several repeated blasts, Superman falls down but he's caught by a returning Supergirl. Superman and Supergirl spot Rogol Zaar waiting on a rooftop and streak towards him. Blinded with rage, Supergirl is pummelling him, but Superman ponders they're pushing him back too easily, like he was luring them in. Their battle is endangering civilians, and Superman dashes forward to punch him out of Metropolis. Unfortunately Superman realizes he can't hit him too hard because the shockwave would demolish the city. Superman forces him to land on a rooftoop and observes the Earth's sun is Rogol's weakness. He isn't used to such a power boost. Rogol blasts him away and then goes into hiding. Superman guesses his enemy's studying him. Superman and Supergirl scan the city, but for some reason he's impervious to their X-ray vision. Abruptly, Rogol Zaar resumes his attack. He smashes Supergirl away and hits Superman until the Man of Steel loses consciousness. As he's fainted, Superman recalls how he was separated from his wife and son: an insectoid-looking vessel warped in their kitchen, piloted by his birth father. Jor-El said he'd come looking for Jonathan. Superman comes around and finds Hal Jordan has come over and is questioning witnesses. Captain Maggie Sawyer is telling the unknown alien claimed he was performing a "cleansing". However Rogol hightailed it one second before Green Lantern showed up, like he knew he was coming. Supergirl returns and asks her cousin if he got Rogol Zaar. Superman has to admit Rogol escaped. Kal and Kara take a minute to mourn the loss of Kandor together, and Kara flies off to look for Rogol. Hal wants Superman to call his cousin back, though. If Rogol Zaar is out to cleanse Kryptonians, every Kryptonian must be accounted for. Hal asks Kal where's his son, and Superman freezes. Swiftly, Superman flies back to his ruined Fortress and checks a broken comm device. Suddenly he realizes Rogol is behind him, demanding to know why he came back. He adds if Superman is trying to warn another Kryptonian refugee he'll find them. He also claims he knew Jor-El, probably better than Superman. Superman states he can't tell if Rogol was telling what he thought was the truth about Krypton or was merely trying to get him mad. Then Rogol asks if Superman has procreated. Superman snaps and releases a solar flare that blows his Fortress up. As battling, Superman flies Rogol Zaar off planet and he wonders what the Kandorians thought or felt right before that monster wiped them out. His flight is interrupted when Rogol punches him into the Moon. As Superman battles Rogol, he wonders why that monster hates Kryptonians so, and why he's never heard of Rogol or his species. Unfortunately, even though Superman puts up a hard fight, Rogol beats him to the ground. As the Rogol's axe descends upon him, Superman catches a glimpse of a strange symbol engraved in the handle. After striking Superman down, Rogol leaves him for dead and turns his attention to Earth. But Superman is still alive. As unconscious, Superman recalls the time Jor-El showed up and offered to take Jon across the galaxy and show him a side of his heritage that Jon's parents can't teach him. Superman and Lois turned down his offer, but Jon declared he wanted to go. Meanwhile on Metropolis, Melody Moore and her men are rushing to a burning building, but Supergirl has already evacuated the building and put out most of the fire when they arrive. As Moore's firemen tend the remainder fires, Supergirl asks Moore if she knows where her cousin went to. The Justice League comes along as both women talk. Aware of the Kandor's fate, Wonder Woman tries to comfort Supergirl. Still enraged and upset about Rogol's actions and his claims of destroying Krypton, Kara tries to focus on her cousin's whereabouts. Realizing Kal-El would take Rogol out of the planet, Kara looks up and finds her cousin. Swiftly, Supergirl heads to the Moon, digs Superman up and flies back to Earth carrying her unconscious cousin in her arms. In the Hall of Justice, Superman is healing, surrounded by his cousin and the Leaguers. The League discuss Rogol and his abilities, and Wonder Woman remarks his well-practiced hit-and-run tactics are the mark of a seasoned warrior. Superman describes the sign he saw on Rogol's weapon: A double circle slashed across by a thunderbolt. Hal Jordan tells his ring's database doesn't know what it is. Kara is leaning over Kal. She tells she checked the Fortress and took care of everything, including Kandor. Outwardly she looks calm and still, but he knows her. Unlike himself, she actually lived on Krypton, and he's never seen her so furious. The Leaguers look over Rogol's possible motivations, and Batman points out Rogol destroyed a planet to cleanse the universe from Kryptonians. Supermans gets wide-eyed when he realizes Batman is implying. Quickly he puts on his costume and bursts out of the building. Kara's NOT happy about being left behind, but Diana tries to appease her: an anti-Kryptonian mass-murderer being out and about means the Leaguers have to protect her. Superman flies high before turning around and digging his way to the Earth's core where Rogol Zaar is planting a device to detonate the planet. Neither Superman nor Lois want to let Jonathan go sightseeing the galaxy with his grandfather, but Jon argues he's seen another reality where he grows up to kill millions of people. Clark tries to appease his son by saying they can't get worried about every alternate timeline and possible future, but Jon argues back the Teen Titans rejected him because there's something wrong with him. He bursts into tears. At the Earth's core, Superman doesn't recognize Rogol's technology and asks where Rogol came from and what the symbol on his halberd means. Rogol ignores his questions and sneers Superman really has Earth people fooled. Superman switches tactics and says he finds his sincerity surprising: Rogol is very sincere in hating him just because of his biases. It's even sad. His baiting works and Rogol charges him. Superman exploits Rogol's own momentum to throw him far from his planetary bomb. Then Superman grabs the device, digs his way through the terrestrial mantle, and streaks into space, aware that Rogol is hot on his heels. And he yet doesn't know how to destroy Rogol's device safely. Jon argues he has to figure out what's wrong with him, and Jor-El is the only who seems to understand what is going on and offers a better solution than just ignoring it. Lois isn't convinced and asks where Jor-El wants to take him. Jor-El answers he wants to take his grandson across the galaxy. He thinks Jonathan needs a wider perspective than that Earth can offer, lovely world as it is. Lois yet doesn't want to allow it, but Jor-El offers to take the whole family with him. Clark and Lois are shocked, but Jon is delighted. Lois comes to a decision. She just closed a two-book deal with a publisher. Her first book is about her journalistic career, but she gets to choose the second. She's decided the second will be about her galactic trip with Jon. Her son is overjoyed, but Clark gets upset. He doesn't want his family to leave. Lois doesn't like it either, but as soon as their son was born, they knew they'd have to make some tough choices. Jon thinks he needs this, and she needs to make sure he'll be fine. Rogol Zaar has caught up with Superman. Superman struggles to keep him away the device, but he can't overpower him. Suddenly, Supergirl flies into the battle and shoulder-tackles Rogol. Clark is visibly unhappy with the situation. His father assures he'll bring them back and it's for Jon's own good. Jor-El gives him a deep-space communicator to remain in touch with them, and asks him to speak his mind. Clark states Jor-El handled this poorly and now his house is in disarray. Jor-El replies he merely and unintentionally proved is house was always in disarray. Clark replies he can raise his own son, but his father thinks that, as much as Clark does for the Earth's people, he and Jon can do greater things for them. Both cousins battle Rogol Zaar beyond the Earth's atmosphere. Superman gets Rogol into position, and Supergirl switches the Phantom Zone Projector on. Rogol is banished, and only his axe is left. As Green Lantern arrives and wraps the planetary bomb in a protective energy bubble, Superman picks up the axe and ponders the number of unanswered questions they're left with. Lois is packing her luggage. Clark doesn't want to be left alone but he can't go with them either. He hands his costume over to Lois, hoping that wearing his House's symbol will protect her out there, and telling her about the button inside the belt buckle which will make the uniform fit. Lois wonders what he'll wear, and Clark answers he'll figure something out. Superman argues with Supergirl that they can't throw anything they don't like into the Phantom Zone. Kara agrees, but as far as she and Kryptonian laws are concerned, Rogol Zaar deserves it. Kara adds she's leaving for a while in order to find out the truth about Rogol. Clark is worried, but his cousin states she'll be back... and so Lois and Jon will. Superman states he can't call them because the deep-space communicator broke in the battle. They don't know he can't call back. Supergirl assures she'll tell them if she sees them. Superman and Supergirl finish making the memorial for Kandor. The Justice League shows up to mourn the murdered Kandorians. Clark says goodbye to his family. He already feels alone. Later, a boy approaches Melody Moore and claims he saw Superman starting the fires. | Issues = * (The Truth) * (Office Space) * (Man of Steel, Part 1) * (Man of Steel, Part 2) * (Man of Steel, Part 3) * (Man of Steel, Part 4) * (Man of Steel, Part 5) * (Man of Steel, Finale) | Items = * Green Lantern Ring * Phantom Zone Projector * Sunstone * Superman Symbol | Vehicles = * Batplane * Jokermobile | Weapons = | Notes = | Trivia = * There's a hidden Legion of Super-Heroes reference in the first chapter when Lois says her son should "join the Legion of kids that are old enough to fix their own problems". * The Truth happens between pages 10 and 11 of the fourth chapter. * 101 Fox and Gardner street is a reference to Gardner Fox. Another landmark is named Sekowsky, after Mike Sekowsky. * Jason Fabok confirmed via twitter the second-to-last scene where Clark Kent is grieving his family is an intentional homage to the last panel of during the Whatever Happened to the Man of Tomorrow? | RecommendedReading = | Links = }}